UCSF’s Resource Allocation Program Now Accepting Applications for Fall 2016 Cycle
UC San Francisco's Resource Allocation Program (RAP), which offers a single online application process for a wide variety of intramural funding opportunities, is now inviting applications for the fall 2016 cycle.
The electronic submission deadline is Monday, Sept. 19, 2016, at 2 p.m.
The fall cycle comes with new funders that have joined RAP with new grant mechanisms, and most of the existing grants have been extensively revised.
RAP is a consortium of a central management core within the Research Development Office (RDO) and several UCSF funding programs that have agreed to run competitions together under a common vision which is to support as much good science as possible. Through this collaborative effort, RAP facilitates the dissemination, submission, review and award of intramural research funding opportunities on campus.
New Funding Opportunities
- The Research Resource Program (RRP) is offering a new grant mechanism called “Institutional Matching Instrumentation Award,” with award amounts ranging from $50,000 to $200,000.
- The Helen Diller Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC) is sponsoring a $50,000 new “Pilot Award in Precision Imaging of Cancer and Therapy.”
- The National Cancer Institute and the HDFCCC offer the “Program on Non-Aids-defining Cancer, HIV and Aging” with award amount up to $75,000.
- The National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (NCOEWH) is funding Pilot for Junior Investigators at $40,000.
- The School of Dentistry – Research is now sponsoring the Pilot for Junior Investigators, the Pilot for Established Investigators and the Team Science Award along with the Academic Senate, CTSI-Pilot Awards and REAC.
- The Osher Center is sponsoring two new funding opportunities at $50,000: the “Integrative Cancer Pilot Award” and the “Integrative Dementia Pilot Award.”
- The UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative offers a “One-Year Innovation Award in Prematurity Research” with awards ranging from $20,000 to 75,000.
- CAPS – HIV Innovative Grants are offered again with a $40,000 pilot.
- The Mentored Scientist Award Program in HIV/AIDS sponsored by CFAR has been revised and now includes Basic Science.
- CFAR Funding Opportunities have been extensively revised.
The RAP website has information about the mechanisms of interest that should be reviewed prior to preparing a proposal. The site also has the submission rules and the eligibility matrix.
The results of prior cycles are available on the website under “Resources.” The site also includes recent awardees writing about their success stories and the funding rate for each grant mechanism offered.
The relative high funding rate is largely due to the unique RAP process. Although applicants choose the most appropriate grant mechanism for submission through RAP, each application is considered simultaneously by multiple funding agencies, thus enhancing the likelihood of support for a proposal.
RAP is supported by an online application and review portal. With a simple sign-in, applicants are able to create an account and view the status of their submissions through a personal dashboard. The electronic application automatically auto-fills and saves work in progress, allowing for a stepwise submission. Applicants are able to independently edit their submissions until the competition is closed.
This fall cycle, for the first time in the history of the program, the RAP Committee, comprehensive of all the Faculty Directors of the participating funding agencies, decided to reveal the final scores to the applicants in addition to the written critiques. The hope is that the final scores will provide a more effective feedback to the applicants.
All programs on campus are welcome to use RAP to coordinate their funding competitions, and all faculty members are invited to become reviewers and offer their skills to boost the review process and improve research efforts. It’s also important to keep in mind that the RAP review process offers an excellent opportunity for mentoring and hands-on review process learning.
In the Spotlight
The newly introduced Institutional Matching Instrumentation Award is intended to provide institutional matching funds for extramural equipment grants such as the NIH Shared Instrumentation Grants (SIG) and High-End Instrumentation (HEI) Grants. To promote cost-effectiveness, to encourage optimal sharing among individual investigators, research groups and departments, and to foster a collaborative multidisciplinary environment, the instrument should be managed by a UCSF Campus Core. For assistance in identifying a Campus Core partner please contact the Research Resource Program at rrp.ucsf.edu.
RAP Funding Agencies Sponsoring the Fall 2016 Cycle
• Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center (ADRC)
• Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education
• Clinical & Translational Science Institute – Catalyst Awards for the Development of Diagnostics, Devices, Therapeutics and Digital Health (CTSI-Catalyst)
• Clinical & Translational Science Institute - Pilot Awards (CTSI-Pilot Awards)
• Core Center for Musculoskeletal Biology & Medicine (CCMBM)
• Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center (HDFCCC)
• National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health (NCOEWH)
• Osher Center for Integrative Medicine (OCIM)
• Research Evaluation & Allocation Committee (REAC)
• UCSF – Academic Senate
• UCSF – Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPS)
• UCSF – Gladstone Institute of Virology & Immunology Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)
• UCSF California Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi-CA)
• UCSF Research Resource Program -Campus Core (RRP)
• UCSF School of Dentistry – Research
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